Finally, an update! It's probably not my best, but I'm glad it's completed and postable, lol. At any rate... REVIEW, please, lol. Oh, and thanks, thanks, thanks, for the reviews from the other chapter. Muah!

The Journey Home

Chapter Twenty Seven

Destination, Atlanta

A week later, Scarlett, Darcy and Prissy stood in the small train depot in Jonesboro waiting for the nine o'clock train to make its appearance. Rhett stood a distance away from them, leaning against the beam for support.

Look at him over there trying to ignore me. That skunk! He thinks he's won, he thinks that I'm going just because he said so. That's as much as he knows. I'm going because Aunt Pitty asked me to come home and because Darcy asked me to take her.

"Scarlett, I'm so nervous," Darcy said next to her. "I've never traveled by train before."

"Don't be silly, it's perfectly safe." Scarlett replied and glanced at Rhett again.

"How long will it take to get to Atlanta?"

"Several hours. Don't worry, Darcy. We'll be fine."

I suppose he thinks if he doesn't notice me that I won't notice him. Fiddle dee dee! I can be as stubborn as he is.

"Will someone be waiting for us when we arrive?"

"Aunt Pitty and Uncle Peter, I imagine."

Keep your distance see if I care, Rhett Butler. You can run but you can't hide. You gave your heart to me and I won't give it back. I'm taking it with me to Atlanta and when you get ready to reclaim it, I'll be waiting for you.

"I's cain't waits to gets back to 'lanta," Prissy intoned. "I's tihed a bein' in da country where dey ain't no one's to tahk to."

"You just want to get back so you can gossip," Scarlett frowned at the girl. "I swear, I don't know why Mammy refused to come with me."

"She say she gettin' on, Miz Scahlett. She don' wanna leave Tara no more."

"Great balls of fire! It's not like we won't ever be coming back."

"Jus' da same, she don' want to leab anymo," she said again. "Ain't you gwine to be glad to be back in 'lanta, Miss Scahlett?"

"I suppose, I really haven't given it much thought," she replied hastily and looked down at Rhett again.

In the distance the train whistle blew and then it appeared slowly churning its way toward them.

"Ladies, it's time," Rhett called to them.

"It's so loud," Darcy said to her with a pained squint as the train chugged forward.

"It'll stop soon enough," Scarlett replied and watched as Rhett came near them.

"Do you have your tickets?" he asked them, but not to her directly. She willed him to look at her, but he remained aloof and indifferent and kept his gaze away from her.

Oh, you black-hearted varmit! I wish I could poke you right in the nose! You know I want you to look at me and that's why you won't. Ha! You know if you do, you'll see the truth."

"I'm sure you ladies will have a safe trip. I've taken the liberty to wire Henry Hamilton's office to have an escort to meet you."

"Thank you, Mr. Butler," Darcy told him.

"It is least I can do seeing how I won't be joining you."

"Mr. Butler, how can I repay you for your kindness? You've been a true gentleman to me. I'm sure if James were alive, he would be grateful, too."

Rhett lifted her hand and kissed it. "It has been an honor to know you, I'm only sorry the circumstances of your departure couldn't be happier. Take care of yourself and don't worry. I will find who did this and bring them to justice."

Darcy smiled and nodded. "Somehow I believe you will."

"Prissy, help Miss Darcy aboard," Scarlett snapped to the poor girl, fuming at the gentleness Rhett was showing Darcy. Prissy immediately shook her head.

"But, Miss Scahlett, the train jus' stopped. Day ain't boardin' yet."

"Then get the luggage ready and stay with Miss Darcy until they do board."

"Yes, I suppose I should be getting ready," Darcy nodded and picked up her satchel. "Thank you again, Mr. Butler."

"Good bye," he tipped his hat to her as she and Prissy moved down the platform, leaving Rhett and Scarlett alone.

"Goodbye, Scarlett," he said still averting his eyes from her.

"Rhett, aren't you going to miss me, even a little?" she asked raising a brow to him. He turned to her then and smirked down at her.

"My dear, don't flatter yourself."

"Why must you be so mean?" she glowered. "I deserve more than that from you after what we've been through."

"Considering you're the cause of most it, I'd say my callousness is justified."

"Yes, I admit my wrongs, Rhett. But, am I to be forever punished for them?"

"I believe that's between you and that God of yours, isn't it? I'm merely a pawn in this game you've created, Scarlett. You've made your bed, now you must lie in it."

"If I remember correctly, you laid in it with me," she threw back at him. "And now you think you can walk away from me? It's never that easy."

Rhett laughed derisively. "Yes, I was always warned never to go to bed with the devil and it seems I've learned my lesson and learned it the hard way. I will walk, Scarlett, run if I must, you can be sure of that. Now why don't you keep your role of the dutiful wife for now and get on the train like a good girl?"

Angered by his condescending tone, Scarlett gripped her purse and squelched the urge to hit him with it. "I am going to get on that train and I'm going back to Atlanta but not because you want me to, but because Aunt Pitty needs me now. As for being a dutiful wife, that is something you'll never get, Rhett Butler, not as long as you keep being mean and hateful. But, I am your wife and your wife I'll stay and don't you forget it!"

She threw her back and without looking at him, marched over to Darcy and Prissy, who were now looking at her strangely. She ignored them and when it was time to board, she didn't look for him on the platform even though her heart begged her to. When they finally pulled out of the depot, Scarlett hid her face and tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. She would not cry another tear over that varmit! She would drink turpentine before that happened again, she declared to herself.

They pulled into Atlanta hours later, just as the sun began setting low in the sky. There was still enough daylight for the lamplighters that walked the streets with their long handled lighters. As promised, a buggy awaited them, driven by Samson, Henry Hamilton's driver. Even at this time of the day, the bustle of the city was active and Scarlett realized she did miss it. She knew every nook and cranny of her city, she had certainly driven it enough going back and forth to the mill.

The mill… her pride and joy at one time. She wondered who Ashley sold it to and if the new owner was better at handling the business than he was. As much as she may have wanted it at one time, Ashley was no business man. He simply didn't have the head for it as she did.

As they settled into the buggy, Samson smacked the horses and moved them down the road.

"How is Uncle Henry, Samson?" Scarlett asked the wizened old, black man. Samson had been with Henry for the last few years and had become as stalwart and dependable as Uncle Peter was to Aunt Pitty.

"Mist' Henry done took ill, Miz Scahlett. He don' get out lak he did," Samson informed her. "He got da cough in his lungs."

"Poor thing," she said and shook her head. "I'll have to go and see him first thing in the morning."

"Is you gwine home or to Miss Pitty's?" he asked her.

"Home. I'll go to see Aunt Pitty tomorrow, too."

She could tell from the look on his face that her decision wasn't the correct choice. "Is something wrong, Samson?"

"No'm," he shook his head.

She wasn't about to pry it out of him. If he wanted her to know, he would tell her. Instead, she turned to Darcy who was staring wide-eyed at her surroundings. "What do you think of Atlanta, Darcy?"

"It's very big," she answered. As they drove along, there were more people on the sidewalk than in the whole town of Jonesboro. They were moving fast and the streets were just as active with buggies, carriage and business wagons coming and going. "Is it always this way?"

Scarlett smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's always this way. You'll get used to it," she told her.

A look of doubt clouded Darcy's face but Scarlett was still smiling. She did miss this, more than she realized. A sense of belonging greeted her as they turned down Peachtree Street and neared her home. She could see it in the distance and just as they came to the gate, she pointed to it.

"This is my home," she told Darcy.

Darcy's eyes widened more as she took in the huge mansion sitting so regally beyond the gated driveway. "You… you live here?"

"I do," she nodded.

"I don't think I've ever seen a house that big," she shook her head and swallowed. "I didn't know anything could be that big."

"Rhett calls it 'The Mausoleum'. He never has liked it, I suppose."

"I don't know why not. It's beautiful," she said and looked at Scarlett.

For a moment Scarlett felt pride that someone could appreciate her taste, but it was the thought of Rhett and his distaste for it that gave her pause. She could see why Darcy would think it was beautiful but when they finally stopped, she saw it for the first time with new eyes… Rhett's eyes.

When they entered the grand hall with its red carpets, high walls and windows, heavy portieres and near gaudy statues she had once considered art, she felt sick.

No wonder Mammy wanted to leave, no wonder she didn't want to come back. This place did not have the warm and homey feeling of Tara. This was a cold, empty shell of a house and it was never a home. Not even when Bonnie was alive.

"Oh, my goodness," Darcy exhaled as she looked around. "Oh, my goodness."

"Can I go to my room, Miz Scahlett?" Prissy asked.

"Yes, go on, Prissy. If I need you, I'll call for you."

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the room you'll stay in, Darcy." Scarlett headed for the large stairway. "I hope my instructions were kept and that you have clean linens on the bed."

"Scarlett, I never imagined you lived in a place so grand. It's a… a… palace," she finished as she followed her, still looking around in awe.

"Thank you, Darcy. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here. You are welcome to make yourself at home in every way."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I could never feel like this was my home, Scarlett. Oh, it's beautiful, but I could never get used to it."

"I felt like you once," she mused as the ascended the landing. "As much as I thought I wanted this, I'm not so certain I do now."

Darcy stopped her and smiled. "Sometimes, we want things we think will make us happy, when in reality, it's not the things we can buy that will do that, but the people we love and care about. You love Mr. Butler and he loves you. I know one day, you will work through whatever is wrong."

"Perhaps," Scarlett said and then moved away from her. "If you don't mind, Darcy, I'm going to lay down for a bit. We'll have supper in a little while."

"Yes, I'm tired, too. Thank you again for inviting me, Scarlett."

"I'm glad you came," she smiled and then she left her and made her way to her own bedroom. She shut the door and leaned back on it. The room was just as she left it and for a moment, Scarlett missed her small room at Tara. This was large, auspicious and designed to her specifications, but it suddenly felt cheap and bawdry… much like Belle Watling's was. The sick feeling swept over again and she walked to the bed and fell across it.

I can't think about that right now, I'll think of it tomorrow when I can stand it...